Windy days

Look what the wind blew in yesterday! A wonderful gift I won over at Grace's site. :-) Beading yummies. Thank you Grace!!!

I'll resist posting bird pictures today and for a change you can look at....my laundry! LOL

The Tramp and I finally got the clothesline constructed and yesterday was it's maiden voyage. I love how it's always breezy here and yesterday was downright WINDY. I also love my fancy dancy new dryer but nothing is better than hanging things out in the sun and wind. Wednesday is laundry day and it's always nice when the weather cooperates! The lines sagged quite a bit but we pulled them tighter today. It's still windy so....

It wasn't hard to find another load of laundry. I can't figure out how just two of us manage to generate so much!

Today was Make Stew For The Dog Day. Polish sausage, green beans, sweet and white potatoes. I forgot to get beef broth so used chicken. I was all ready to worry about it, then realized...the dog couldn't care less. Sheesh. The recipe is from this book.

So it naturally followed that it should also be Scrub Out The Kibble Containers Day.


Our yard is slowly taking shape. The construction of the clothesline helped make the woodpile a bit smaller. The Tramp has also been busy chopping wood for the stove.

Things have greened up since we've finally had some rain. The problem is that with all this drought and not a little neglect on our part weed is taking over. All the green you see above is chickweed or something similar. It's also taken over the gardens.
It grows like mad in the pine straw mulch so I've been hacking it out a bit at a time. I only wonder if I can keep ahead of it!

I've got so much more to go! This is just the tip of the iceberg. Sigh.

But the bonus is finding lovely little things like this. :-)

This, That and the Other

It's a dull day today but that doesn't seem to deter the birds. I end up sitting here watching them rather than getting stuff done! The Bluebirds were back today, checking out the suet feeders. Sparrows are back nesting in the Bluebird house though. I've chucked out the nest a few times but this time I think I'll let it go. They're a pest, but throwing them out doesn't guarantee the Bluebirds using it. (click to see the Bluebird)


The daffodils are finishing. I'm waiting for the next wave of bloom. I know there are irises in the bed, but I'm not sure what else.


With spring in the air I just have to mess around with soil. I've put pansies in pots and under the bird bath. I had the fright of my life the other day when watering. The biggest, blackest black widow spider was hanging out by one of the pots. She was breathtakingly beautiful to see but at the same time the experience shook me to the core! These are creatures I've only previously read about and seen in photos. Quite a different experience in person....and living under the siding of my own house! *shiver*

I've got a few pots of seeds starting indoors. Flowers...


tomatoes....and strawberries! I think it's going to take these guys a long time before I see a strawberry out of here. :-)


I did some much needed re-potting. The croton is a very happy plant. Good thing because it really needed a larger pot. The other plant (yellow pot) I've never been able to identify. So it's been suffering (can you tell?) while I try to figure out what kind of pot, light and watering schedule it likes. I think this last location is going to be a good one. I hope!


I brought this Easter Lily with me from my church in New Jersey. I didn't know where to plant it last summer when we got here but it has survived in the pot and is now growing like mad in my sewing room window!

Like I need them (not!) I bought two more African Violets at Lowes on Sunday. My excuse is I don't have these colors.

Some of the others are blooming nicely right now.


Sewing slowed down for a while. I was/am having so many aches and pains in my shoulders and arms. As of last night (another sleepless one) I've convinced myself my aches are being caused by the memory foam topper we got for our bed about a month ago. So it's coming off tonight and we'll see! I was a bit bored too, and since big items were tough with the aching arms, I took a break and messed around on my Featherweight making some of Bonnie's Maverick Stars. I had lots of little triangle ends from the braided border on the Scrappy Bargello quilt in my crumbs bin. So I threw caution to the winds, sort of followed the directions and had fun. :-)


Pretty cute.
Not sure what I'll do with them but I can enjoy them hanging around on my design wall for a while. Maybe a table topper.....

Bonnie has started dropping hints for the next mystery quilt. I'm counting on the aches and pains going away by then! Yes!!!!

Finished!

It sure feels good to finish a UFO. In February Mom and I went to a guild workshop to make a Schlepping Bag for carrying large items to sewing workshops. The pattern was created by Java Bee 4 Jive, a group of ladies who are members of the guild. It's made of pieces of decorator fabric, sandwiched and quilted which makes it very heavy! I swore at it not a few times as I struggled to sew on the pockets, binding and straps.

You can see how big it is. I had a hard time finding a place to hang it to take a photo! It's too long to hook on a doorknob. At quilting bee last night someone short had her bag on her shoulder and she had trouble going up and down stairs! :-)


On the inside are a cutting mat pocket, ruler pocket and a zippered tool pocket.


I just received Dawn Ramirez's new DVD, The Pajama Quilter Reloaded. After watching and practicing on a white board, I machine quilted the body of the bag on the Gracie frame and took a crack at dwirling, flowers, and loops with leaves. Fun!

Saturday

I can never figure out how to title posts! LOL Anyway, it's still Saturday, at least for a little while, so I guess that's safe. Actually I need to go change all the clocks. Oh no, forget it. I'll change the one by my bed and do the rest in the morning. I don't have to rush anywhere. :-)

Good thing too, we seem to have a touch of stomach virus here. Ick. I just hope the dogs don't have it too. Judging from some of the evil smells wafting up from around the bed I may have to get up anyway and let them out. Sigh....

On a more cheerful note! We got James Taylor and his Band of Legends tickets for the Walnut Creek Amphitheater. Woohoo! Ticketmaster actually cooperated for a change (hate that website). Now of course I have to wait until May for the concert. Pooh.

Iron(s)

I'm rising to the challenge posed by Dot, to show my iron. I have three...well really four...no, five! If I count the travel iron. LOL

I recently lay my old Rowenta Professional to rest. *sob* Rowie and I went through a lot together (a whole other story) and I was really upset when she started to falter. It was hard, but I ended up putting her down, before either of us suffered too much....sigh.

SO! Firstly, I have a crappy old Proctor Silex I keep by my sewing machine. It doesn't get very hot so is great for piecing etc. Kind of like the Energizer Bunny...it just keeps on going.


I also have one of those little Clover thingummies...currently hanging on my pegboard.


And a Black & Decker Classic I bought to bridge the gap when I was considering what to get next after the demise of the old Rowenta. Always a good heavy iron to have on hand, and inexpensive to boot.


Then, lastly, I have a new Rowenta Professional. Expensive, but I managed to find it on sale. My only quibbles are that the stiff and heavy cord is a bit difficult to manage (too heavy for the cord minders I have) and it seems to run out of water awfully quickly. But it's a darned good iron nonetheless. And I'm all for the auto shut-off. ADD, that's me! ;-)


All of which reminds me of this charming English folk song that my (English) mother taught me when I was a little girl. It was great fun to sing along with her. :-) You can hear the tune here.

Dashing Away With The Smoothing Iron

'Twas on a Monday morning
When I beheld my darling
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree
She looked so neat and nimble, O
A-washing of her linen, O

(Refrain)
Dashing away with the smoothing iron
Dashing away with the smoothing iron
She stole my heart away.

'Twas on a Tuesday morning
When I beheld my darling
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree
She looked so neat and nimble, O
A-hanging out her linen, O (Refrain)

'Twas on a Wednesday morning
When I beheld my darling
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree
She looked so neat and nimble, O
A-starching of her linen, O (Refrain)

'Twas on a Thursday morning
When I beheld my darling
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree
She looked so neat and nimble, O
A-ironing of her linen, O (Refrain)

'Twas on a Friday morning
When I beheld my darling
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree
She looked so neat and nimble, O
A-folding of her linen, O (Refrain)

'Twas on a Saturday morning
When I beheld my darling
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree
She looked so neat and nimble, O
A-airing of her linen, O (Refrain)

'Twas on a Sunday morning
When I beheld my darling
She looked so neat and charming
In every high degree
She looked so neat and nimble, O
A-wearing of her linen, O (Refrain)

Tornado Watch

Tonight we are under a tornado watch. I'm not used to this! We didn't do tornadoes in Northern New Jersey. I'm sure it will be fine. So far the worst of it seems to have bypassed Raleigh. Though right at the moment the wind has picked up again and the rain is pounding on the house. The power was out earlier today too. The low pressure has given me a migraine. Moan, moan, moan. Tomorrow should be a better day.

In the meantime I have finished a UFO. :-) My Raggedy Old Annie, named Rosie, is all done! She's pretty cute. The coffee dying was an experience. You gotta understand. I don't do coffee. I make it for The Tramp but I don't drink it...and I certainly don't dip my hands in it! LOL I'm a tea babe.

It seems I got a little wild with the coffee dying process and pretty much overdid it. Rosie and her clothing ended up looking filthy rather than a bit raggedy! And Rosie had a weird light patch around her nose and mouth. So after it all dried (stiff with coffee), I re-rinsed out the clothing and went over Rosie with water to even out her color. I'm pleased with the results. She's a cutie.

And she seems happy with her perch in my sewing room. :-)

Happy Friday

I really enjoy the view from my computer desk. :-) It's been pretty cold for the past two days but the flowers seem to have survived ok.

I've also been feeding the flocks of birds. The Tramp commented on how colorful the birds are here. I hadn't thought about it but he's right. We had the same birds in New Jersey, just not so many and they were dirty city birds and these are bright, clean country birds! The more colorful are Cardinal, House Finch, Robin, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Bluebird, Blue Jay, Goldfinch and Yellow-throated Sparrow. There are also Juncos, Carolina Chickadees, "regular" Sparrows and some fleeting glimpses of birds I haven't identified yet. Then up high in the sky are the hawks and turkey vultures. They can stay way up there as far as I'm concerned. Belle would just be a small snack for them!

This Cardinal seemed to be pretty content sunning on his rock.

This one was probably eyeing the thistle feeder stuck on the window though after a while I got the feeling he was watching me!

This week I finished a charity quilt. Just a simple disappearing nine patch with a flannel back.


I really wanted a Raggedy Old Annie of my own so I ordered a pattern from Nicole. Mine is named Rosie. I finished the sewing tonight and she just had her coffee bath. I had to find a safe place do it and we ended up in the tub!


I had bought one of those retractable clotheslines a while ago and we never put it up. The Tramp put it up for me this evening so Rosie could drip coffee into the tub. It was easy enough to hang up her clothes but I had to think about how to hang Rosie from the line. Then it dawned on me. She has her own built in hangers! LOL She certainly looks happy enough!


So between the coffee and our dirty footprints the tub is going to need a really good scrubbing in the morning! Yikes.